Winter
In 1623, William Shakespeare wrote a far-fetched play entitled ‘The Winter’s Tale’, borrowing heavily from the plot of Robert Greene's pastoral romance ‘Pandosto’, first published in 1588. Part tragedy and part comedy, it spoke of the deep pain that is caused by separation and the wasted years when relationships break down. Despite the sorrow of the first three acts involving jealousy, accusation, death and injustice, things turn out well in the end. The two fathers, Leontes and Polixenes seem spiritually dead and have lost all ability for feelings. However, there is a resurrection at the end and joy as reconciliation comes through Florizel and Perdita in the next generation. Winter is the season when structures are revealed as trees shed their leaves and you see their essence. This tale echoes this process in a fanciful story but God’s story does it in stark reality as relationships are redeemed through from his son’s work on a bare tree.
- ‘I prefer Winter and Fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show’ – Andrew Wyeth
- ‘Even in Winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality’ – Andy Goldsworthy